EX NIHILO
Timo Wright | Finland, South Korea 2018 | Experimental, Documentary | 9 min
TFF: "Ex Nihilo is an experimental short documentary about life, death and our attempts to control them. It tells the stories of an advanced humanoid robot, a cryonics facility, where the brains of deceased people are held and of a international seed vault, where crop seed from around the world are held frozen." "Ex Nihilo on kokeellinen dokumenttielokuva elämästä, kuolemasta ja tavoitteistamme kontrolloida niitä. Elokuva kertoo erittäin kehittyneestä robotista, kryoniikkalaitoksesta, jossa kuolleiden aivoja säilytetään jäädytettyinä, sekä siemenpankista, jonne on säilötty ruokakasvien siemeniä ympäri maailmaa."

AA: A chilling black and white futuristic documentary vision intercutting three storylines: the amazing HUBO robot, the Oregon Cryonics preserving human brains (see image above), and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The brave new world does not look inviting. Katri Onnela's portentous score brings it into an amusingly satirical perspective.

AA: A rich array of animation techniques is in use in this dark fairy-tale which starts as a photorealistic puppet animation and proceeds as a journey towads the river of death. From daytime reality there is a passage into another world. The hall of light is awesome.

AA: Sami van Ingen revealed that he did not do much anything to the image of the badly decayed surviving footage of Teuvo Tulio's Nuorena nukkunut / Silja (1937), a legendary lost film, fragments of which were repatriated in 2015 to KAVI by La Cinémathèque française. Van Ingen just slowed the images down 10-15 times until the tempo seemed just right. The ravages of time, the fragility of existence, the fading beauty, and the conflagration of cultural heritage become themes in van Ingen's film. The flame in Regina Linnanheimo's eyes ("silmissä noissa synti on syvä" / "in the eyes of hers / the sin is deep") is no less burning in this battleground of a lost film. Associations runs from Lascaux cave paintings to cosmic visions of the night sky. The cinematography of Erik Blomberg can still be appreciated in these ruins.

AA: The twins no longer can tell each other apart in childhood photographs. Apila since then has questioned her gender identity, and we learn about gender dysphoria. (Dysphoria is the opposite of euphoria). Drawing body contures on a computer screen is a recurrent visual motif, as well as Apila creating her comic strip Moss Dass. The body is a project.

AA: An eulogy for David Bowie. Non-human imagery from The Man Who Fell to Earth flipped over and rearranged. A cosmic rumble is evoked, atavistic forces are at play. Nature footage approaches the status of painting. Experience estranged, senses of perception rebooted. A film of disorientation. We become the man who fell to earth, the alien.

Khadar Ahmed: Yövaras / The Night Thief.

YÖVARAS
THE NIGHT THIEF
Khadar Ahmed | Finland 2017 | Fiction | 15 min
TFF: "The Night Thief is a warmhearted drama set in the suburbs of Helsinki, Finland. It tells the story of a Somali man, Farah, whose car starts to disappear mysteriously at night. Although the car always shows up in the morning, Farah starts to run late from work, and fears that he could lose his job. Farah’s wife is moving to Finland from Somalia and if Farah were to get fired, his wife’s residency permit would be in danger. Due to the circumstances, Farah decides to do whatever it takes to catch the thief. In the end, things take an unexpected turn when Farah finally faces the person who has been stealing his car." "Yövaras on Helsingin lähiöihin sijoittuva lämminhenkinen draama. Se on tarina somalimiehestä Farahista, jonka auto alkaa oudosti katoilla öisin. Vaikka auto aina aamuksi palaakin, myöhästyy Farah silti usein töistä ja alkaa pelätä saavansa potkut. Farahin vaimo on muuttamassa Somaliasta Suomeen, ja jos Farah menettää työnsä, vaimon oleskelulupa vaarantuu. Olosuhteista johtuen Farah päättää tehdä kaikkensa napatakseen varkaan. Lopussa seuraa yllättävä käänne, kun Farah viimein kohtaa henkilön, joka on varastellut hänen autoaan."

AA: Directed by Khadar Ahmed who scripted the interesting Saattokeikka (2017) last year. Based on a true story, the humoristic The Night Thief tells of a mysterious nocturnal car thief due to whom the protagonist almost loses his job because he is always late for work. In the surprise finale something bigger happens than getting to work on time.

AA: A hand-painted animation bringing together dance, aikido and judo, originally an installation, originally vertical. Leena Jääskeläinen believes in the future of the vertical movie. Engaging visually and musically. The attractive score is by Nikolai Kleiman, called "Dance of the Colour Characters".

AA: A black comedy about a rest home where the conditions are so dismal that the residents plan to commit murder in order to be convicted to a prison sentence. Fully aware that the conditions are superior there. "We Gotta Get out of This Place" (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, 1965, first recorded by The Animals), a big hit in the Vietnam War, could sum this up.

Ex Nihilo is an experimental short documentary about life, death and our attempts to control them.

It tells three separate and seemingly unrelated stories. The stories, which are played out on three different screens, start to slowly entwine, creating new interpretations and meanings.

The first film is about one of the most advanced humanoid robots, HUBO. It can walk on uneven terrain, drive a vehicle and operate different tools. It can also transform into a four-wheel vehicle. Some versions of it have voice recognition and the ability to create speech.

The second film is about Oregon Cryonics, a cryonics organisation in Salem, Oregon, USA. At their facility human brains of deceased people are kept at very low temperatures. The objective is that, in the future, the brain or its memory might be revived or reconstructed.

The third film is about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which s situated on the island of Spitsbergen midway between Norway and the North Pole. The vault holds seeds of more than 4000 different plant species at −18 °C. The crates of seeds from all around the world are kept side-by-side deep inside the frozen vault.

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About Me

Antti Alanen (born 1955) is Film Programmer at National Audiovisual Institute (Finland), which runs the Cinema Orion in Helsinki. This diary is an irregular notebook and scrapbook of rough notes on films and related matters. Spoiler alert: I spoil everything because for me plot and conclusion are essential to discuss!

Jazz Record of the Week 29/2017

Jazz Record of the Week 29/2017

Freddie Redd Quartet: The Music from The Connection [1960] (Freddie Redd Six Classic Albums 2/6)

Jazz Record of the Week 29/2017

Introducing Freddie Redd (Freddie Redd Six Classic Albums 1/6)

Jazz Record of the Week 28/2017

Kenny Dorham: Jazz Contrasts

Jazz Record of the Week 20/2017

Joe Henderson: Page One

Jazz Record of the Week 17/2017

Miroslav Vitouš: The Bass

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: All or Nothing at All (5 Original Albums 5/5)

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: Stay with Me (5 Original Albums 4/5)

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: Songs for Distingué Lovers (5 Original Albums 3/5)

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: Body and Soul (5 Original Albums 2/5)

Jazz Records of the Week 16/2017

Billie Holiday: Lady Sings the Blues (5 Original Albums Box Set 1/5)

Jazz Record of the Week 14/2017

The Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin: The Inner Mounting Flame

Jazz Record of the Week 13/2017

Eero Koivistoinen: For Children

Jazz Record of the Week 8/2017

John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman

Jazz Record of the Week 7/2017

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: In a Mellotone

Jazz Record of the Week 6/2017

Duke Ellington: Piano Reflections

Jazz Record of the Week 5/2017

Miles Davis: Bitches Brew

Jazz Record of the Week 4/2017

Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus

Jazz Record of the Week 3/2017

Dollar Brand Quartet: Africa – Tears and Laughter

Jazz Record of the Week 52/2016

Albert Ayler: Goin' Home

Jazz Record of the Week 49/2016

Charles Lloyd: Forest Flower, live at Monterey

Jazz Record of the Week 48/2016

Sinikka Oksanen, Antero Stenberg, Radio Sessions 1959-1966

Jazz Record of the Week 47/2016

Django Reinhardt Vol. 6: 1940: Nuages

Jazz Record of the Week 43/2016

The Essence of Louis Armstrong (Phontastic, Sweden, 1987)

Jazz Record of the Week 42/2016

Tomasz Stańko: Balladyna

Jazz Record of the Week 39/2016

Cannonball Adderley: Somethin' Else

Jazz Record of the Week 38/2016

Tommy Flanagan Trio: Overseas

Jazz Record of the Week 37/2016

Miles Davis: Miles Smiles

Jazz Record of the Week 36/2016

Red Garland Trio: Groovy

Jazz Record of the Week 35/2016

John Coltrane: My Favorite Things

Jazz Record of the Week 34/2016

The Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Out

Jazz Record of the Week 33/2016

Christian Schwindt Quintet: For Friends and Relatives

Jazz Record of the Week 32/2016

Carola & Heikki Sarmanto Trio

Jazz Record of the Week 25/2016

Cecil Taylor: Silent Tongues

Jazz Record of the Week 24/2016

Sonny Rollins: A Night at the Village Vanguard (1957, 2 cd reissue 2016)

Jazz Record of the Week 23/2016

Charlie Mingus: Blues & Roots

Jazz Record of the Week 22/2016

Mal Waldron: Moods

Jazz Record of the Week 21/2016

Django Bates: Belovèd Bird

Jazz Record of the Week 20/2016

Jacques Loussier Trio: The Original Play Bach Vols. 1 & 2

Jazz Record of the Week 19/2016

Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges: Side by Side

Jazz Record of the Week 18/2016

Ray Charles: Genius+Soul=Jazz. Complete 1956-1960 Sessions with Quincy Jones (Genius+Soul=Jazz, The Genius of Ray Charles, The Genius Hits the Road, and from The Great Ray Charles and The Genius After Hours)